You accent-uate the negative

Paso Robles

In his piece “‘Asshole’s neighbor’” (July 7) concerning an ongoing community dispute in Cayucos, New Times News Editor Colin Rigley emphasizes the so-called “thick accent” of the “profoundly Brooklyn” subject of the article, who Rigley claims “sounds like he was born in an East Coast deli.” Rigley implies, by his comments, that all or most of the people who come from New York City not only sound like this, but also comport themselves similarly to the way he has characterized his subject.

I feel Rigley thus diminishes any arguments he makes with unnecessary, pejorative remarks that can only offend your readers from that part of the country, who have chosen to relocate here. (FYI, I am a former Cayucos resident and native New Yorker who, as Mr. Rigley can attest to following our phone conversation, speaks with no “deli accent.”)